Spill Regime e-Link Messages

Listed below are the most recent B.C. Spill Response Regime e-link messages sent out to subscribers.

Technical Working Group and Public Engagement Summary Reports Online

November 28, 2016

In May 2016, the proposed amendments to the Environmental Management Act passed in the Legislative Assembly and received Royal Assent. Now, regulations are being developed to enact the new legislation.

Input from the five-phase engagement process on the third Intentions Paper will be used to inform the development of the first set of regulations due out in early 2017.

Between July and September 2016, the ministry received the following input from technical working groups focused on three specific topics:

Next Steps

A policy update paper is due out before the end of 2016 to provide a detailed review of the new regulations. As development of the new Regime continues, ministry staff will continue to provide intention and policy papers on each set of new regulations for public review and comment.

Held regional meetings with First Nations; summary reports now available

Began meetings with the first set of technical working groups (Overview (PDF)) for priority regulations on:

Defining regulated persons

Determining spill contingency plan content

Setting spill response times

Developing a framework for the Preparedness and Response Organization.

Will publish a final engagement summary paper in the Fall 2016.

Thank you for your ongoing interest and participation in the development of the B.C. Spill Response Regime.

Public Input on Third Intentions Paper Due June 30, 2016

June 13, 2016

On May 10, after several days of debate, the BC Legislative Assembly passed the proposed changes to the Environmental Management Act, 2016, without change. Royal Assent was given on May 19, 2016. The new legislation can be accessed from the Legislative Assembly Progress of Bills table (Bill 21).

Next Steps

Regulations to enact the new legislation will be prepared using a staggered approach, with a priority set of regulations ready in early 2017. Three priority Technical Working Groups on regulated persons, response times and spill contingency plans will work over the summer months to prepare recommendations.

A Core Technical Working Group to inform regulations for the Preparedness and Response Organization (PRO) will also convene in June, with sub-groups on specific topics developing more gradually. A First Nations Core Group will be created early and will determine how its members contribute to the other groups. A Technical Working Group to discuss Geographic Response Plans is currently slated to start in early September 2016.

This public engagement period builds on previous stakeholder, industry, First Nation and public consultation on two other spill intentions papers, released in 2012 and 2014.

The previous consultations helped government develop the proposed amendments to the Environmental Management Act (currently before the Legislature) to ensure B.C. has a world-leading spill preparedness and response regime. The proposed legislation is linked to this table that outlines the progress of bills in the current session.

Next Steps

The ministry has designed a five-phase engagement process to discuss the proposed legislative and regulatory changes with industry, communities, First Nations, first responders and the public:

Release of the spill response intentions paper

Plenary session for industry, local governments, First Nations and other stakeholders

Regional meetings with First Nations

Technical working groups

Final summary paper

EMA Amendments Introduced

March 1, 2016

Amendments to the Environmental Management Act (EMA) were introduced yesterday. If passed, they will provide the legal foundation to establish a new, world-leading spill preparedness and response regime to address environmental emergencies in B.C.

The proposed spills regime will ensure effective preparedness, response and recovery measures are in place for hazardous substance spills, from any source, and reflect over two years of engagement with industry, First Nations and local government. This legislation will:

Establish new requirements for spill preparedness, response and recovery

Create new offences and penalties

Enable the certification of a Preparedness and Response Organization

Increase transparency, participation and accountability

As well, a report prepared for the province by Nuka Research titled Publication Marine Oil Spill Prevention, Preparedness, Response & Recovery - World-leading Approaches from Selected Jurisdictions is now available.

The launch of the current public consultation on the world-leading regime will begin once a third intentions paper is completed and published on-line; public comments will be received on-line at that time. Input will also be received during a two-day overview workshop planned for April 2016 alongside a series of regional meetings with First Nations.